Have read recent posts on spare tire issues and run flat concerns but was wondering what mini's utilized prior to run flats and where the spare was located. Wondering if it would be practical to carry a spare in a cabrio? Have never been a fan of run flats but not comfortable traveling without a spare. Any thoughts on if a spare would fit behind the seats in a cabrio? My wife is sold on a mini S cabrio but was wondering about the spare issue. Any thoughts?

 

Maybe get my knuckles whacked for suggesting this. Griot's Garage tire repair kit.

 

We switched to the tires in my sig - HUGE improvement in ride quality. Bought the Slime Spair kit and a Chevy Cobalt compact spare and tire cover for long trips.

So last weekend we are getting ready for an 800 mile trip, air up the spare and put the cover on it. Set in in the boot and see there will be little room for anything else, not to mention it would flop around. So I set it flat on the seat behind the driver. Can almost get the driver's seat all the way back, and still have room for one rear seat passenger. We decide this is lame, unload the spare and made the trip without it. Maybe if we go cross country, but I have a feeling that spare will never be loaded in the MINI again.

Only had 3 flats where I used the spare on the road in 40 years of driving. One I hit a boulder on a logging road, pretty sure we won't have the MINI offroad. Another was on a concrete hauling rental trailer which thankfully the spare off my Chevy Blazer fit it since it went flat right away with the trailer fully loaded with concrete, and the rental place did squat for us, and in fact charged me for the tire. Talked them in half the price, since it was not a new tire and failed right away. That was 30 years ago, started paying for the rental insurance after that, and have never needed it, go figure. And the last was in the '90's less than a mile from home on the way to the movies, changed it in the meridian and still made it to the movie on time. Others have been slow leaks or went flat in the driveway.

Did in fact get an aluminum roofing nail in the shoulder of one tire within 2 weeks of changing the MINI runflat rocks to new Michelins. Did not lose air, and Discount replaced it free. When we bought the tires they added road hazard to the tire bill without asking if I wanted it, and I said what the heck. Glad I didn't say no to the extra road hazard charge.

 

Fly'n Brick and MCS fever thanks for the info. I have an excellent plug kit and take it with me when I travel. The last two tire failures have been the sidewall which, any type of tire kit would be useless. I too, have only had a couple of failures in the past decade or two but both have been in rural areas far from a fast response. I guess I will go with what I have as from what MCS stated, having a full size spare is not convenient. For any out of town trips may look at the spare option. Perhaps in the boot area if it would not move around and did not need the room for luggage. I agree about the run flats. May take them off and do some Potenzas or Sport Pilots which I am sure would improve the ride and the handling. Again, thanks for the replys..

 

I recall reading in another thread that you can buy the factory spare along with the mounting hardware and mount it under the car. I looked under mine and there is a wheel well on the underside of the car where the spare used to go when the cars came with spare tires. I don't know the part number or where to order it though, but I'm pretty sure it can be done.

 

Thanks for the post on the possible mounting under the car. Will check and see what I may need to get a spare there. I thought that they may have kept the indentation under the boot area but not having the car yet, was not sure. I think that would be the better way to go if I can get the mounting hardware. Again, would love to leave the run flats behind and go to a conventional spare with good performance tires.

 

Spare can only mount under a non-Turbo R57. No space for spare under the R57-S (Turbo).

 

Curious why only a non turbo. Don't have the mini yet so can not look but what is the difference underneath and why?

 

the spare will not fit in an S because the double exhaust runs down the middle of the underside. the exhaust in a non S runs down the side .

 

Well, that about sums it up. Would not be easy to re route the exhaust and not sure what you would get into once you start that. I guess it makes mounting a spare in the S not very doable. It is great to have the expertise when looking at options. Thanks for the information jean...

 

We got MiniFini to put trailer hitch on our clubman and then a
Continential kit for the spare..works great..

 

That sound like a promising idea. Had never seen that done. Went to Minifini and found the parts. This is a great concept. Would only want to keep it on when traveling out of town. I guess a pig tail or snap connector could be used to go from the old to new license plate light and be able to switch back and forth. Thanks for introducing me to Minifini. Am new to mini's and have not found all the after market vendors. A great site with a wealth of information.

 

Have you ever traveled long distances, say cross-country, on a motorcycle?

 

I have when I was a decade younger. That is why I don't do it any longer. Over 1000 miles on a Harley low rider will make a believer out of you. However, not sure what you were referring to with the post about a bike unless it is the fact that a bike does not have a spare. In this case, I choose not be be stopped on the road until I can take the tire off or get a flat bed. In any event, as I get older I like to lessen the hassle of longer trips. There have been some great ideas and like the Minifini option the best for my needs.

 

Since I have a regular non-S convertible, I do have the spare tire well under the car. Does anyone know exactly what parts I would need in order to put a working spare there and where I could get those parts that wouldn't require me to sell my firstborn to raise the money for it?

btw, for what it's worth, my last car was a saturn sky and that didn't have a spare either and it didn't even come with runflats. I drove it like a madman. Took two trips from Miami to the NC/Tenn. border for a couple of Dragon meets and was always going back and forth between Miami and Orlando and Miami and Key West.

Also recently drove cross country from Miami to San Diego in a Honda Fit. That one did have a spare but I didn't have to use it.

I don't expect I'll be driving to that extent with the Mini but I will definitely be making at least one Dragon run and quite a few Orlando/Keys runs. As I get older I find I am becoming a little more safety-minded and a spare would definitely be nice to have.

 

Check out

http://www.thompdale.com/mini_cooper/add_a_spare.htm

I ordered all the parts listed under the link's "Assembly" section in the white box plus the factory steel wheel for about $152 + shipping from Classic MINI. I talked to Greg at Classic. Tell him you are a NAM member to get this discount. I ordered the Kumho tire listed in the link from my local Discount Tire for $52 though you can call Tire Rack and get one delivered for about the same price.

I figured the $200 - 250 I'd spend would be cheaper than the cost difference between the next set of run flats and conventional tires and give me the better ride.

 

Here's an update. I installed my spare tire today. Mr.Thompson in the link purchased a used carrier. I purchased new and want to let you know that part number 51-71-184-110, which is the cover the spare tire sits on, comes with parts 41-11-7-043-350 (hub cover) and 07-13-0-922-441 (hex nut) attached to it. That saves you $6.90. Also, on the R57, the plastic flange nuts in the white diagram, 16-13-1-183-133, are not needed - another $.90.

Discount Tire charged me about $82 for the tire, which included mounting, valve stem and taxes so my grand total to add the spare with all new factory parts was $262.

 

I'm bumping this thread up as I am now rolling around in my 2011 R57 with non-runflats for a few months now. I think it's time I invested some time and money into this baby and get that spare kit installed. So my question is, has anyone else had any luck installing the kit under their car like Buckeye per the Thompdale link? I'm trying to figure out if I should follow the parts list to the Tee or I think I have 16 rims so I'm guessing I would get a different size rim. Pardon my ignorance, I'm learning slowly but surely.

Cheers!

 

I did it to mine last summer. Had about the same amount of $$$ in it too. Got 20K on my runflats and hope to get a bit more before replacing with non-runflats. They still grip the road well in spite of all the snow we've been getting.
Good Luck